Late Night Talk withAubrey Masango

In an effort to simultaneously develop South Africa’s industry and transform the patterns of enterprise ownership, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel announced that they would be setting aside R23 billion to facilitate the growth of the country’s black industrialists.

What is an industrialist?

Speaking to CapeTalk's Kieno Kammies, Patel explained what the role of industrialists is in our country.

An industrialist is someone who invests in the real economy. They not only have equity or shares in a company, but also play an active role of control. They are people who create wealth, rather than people who are involved in the circulation of wealth.

He says that companies from these sectors are being targeted:

manufacturing

mining

agriculture

green economy

Beyond just transformation

Patel says that the decision is not only about transformation. Instead, he says there is also a compelling economic argument for the investment .

If you leave 80% or more of the economy’s talent pool out of the main, you are not going to be able to achieve the kind of growth rate and jobs that South Africa needs. But, now we need people who can roll up their sleeves to bring passion, energy , enterprise, good ideas and a can-do attitude that industrialists need

He says these efforts are a departure from the previous passive BEE policies that have not managed to transform the economy.

Economic Development budget speech

While delivering the Economic Development Department’s budget vote for the next calendar year, Minister Patel said that funding for this endeavor will come from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

He also said that the IDC has also committed 100 billion rand towards industrial development over the next five years.

Patel also said that the IDC will discount 150 basis points to black industrialists who own and control their operations.